Sandeshkhali women celebrate Sheikh Shahjahan's arrest by playing Holi.
Holi has come early for the men and women who live on the island of Sandeshkhali in Bengal's North 24 Parganas, after news Thurday of the arrest of Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.
Visuals showed Sandeshkhali residents laughing and happily dousing each other in vibrant Holi colours.
NDTV spoke to one of the women celebrating Shahjahan's arrest. She praised Bengal Police for taking action and called for justice, for those allegedly cheated and violated by the local politician.
Accused of extortion, land grab, and multiple counts of sexual assault, Shahjahan had been on the run for 55 days - since a mob of his supporters attacked an Enforcement Directorate team on January 5 - and is also at the centre of a political row between the ruling party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which had accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party of protecting him.
Sheikh Shahjahan - arrested early this morning by a special team of Bengal Police - has been sent to the cops' custody for 10 days, and has also been suspended from the Trinamool Congress for six years.
READ | Sandeshkhali Accused Sheikh Shahjahan, On The Run For 55 Days, Arrested
His arrest comes three days after the Calcutta High Court ordered the state to take him into custody.
The court was responding to remarks this week by Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, who claimed the state had, till then, been unable to arrest Shahjahan because judiciary "tied" the police's hands.
"I want to put this on record... Trinamool is not guarding Shahjahan. Judiciary is. Lift the stay and see what police does..." he had said in response to the BJP's allegations.
READ | Arrest Trinamool Strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, Says Calcutta High Court
The court shot back, saying, "Shahjahan obviously needs to be arrested." "We clarify there is no stay on arrest in any proceeding. He is absconding," the court declared.
In response, senior Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh declared Sheikh Shahjahan would be arrested "within seven days". "Thanks to the High Court... for clarifying this matter..." he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Shahjahan's arrest, however, has been met with a dose of scepticism.
READ | "Mutual Adjustment": BJP's Suvendu Adhikari On Shahjahan's Arrest
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari - a former Trinamool leader and close aide of Ms Banerjee - declared, "This is not an arrest; this is a mutual adjustment."
"Unless the central agencies take him into their custody, the people there won't get justice," he said.
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